The coronavirus pandemic has obviously brought real motorsport to a halt, but many of Michelin’s driver partners have been keeping their eye in thanks to virtual races like Sebring SuperSaturday, e-Sport MotoGP and Porsche Supercup Virtual Edition.

Initially scheduled for the weekend of June 13-14, this year’s Le Mans 24 Hours has been postponed until mid-September due to the coronavirus outbreak. The 1968 race was also held in September and saw Michelin provide new radial tyres for its partner Alpine.

Sébastien Ogier steered his Michelin LTX Force-equipped Toyota Yaris WRC to victory this weekend to earn his sixth success in Mexico. However, Round 3 of the 2020 FIA World Rally Championship was brought to an early close due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The 2013 RallyRACC-Rally de Espana saw Sébastien Ogier and Jari-Matti Latvala earn Volkswagen’s first one-two finish in the WRC, as well as its first Manufacturers’ world title. The French pair’s victory also brought Michelin a 23rd Manufacturers’ crown, while Poland’s Robert Kubica (Citroën/Michelin) wrapped up the year’s WRC-2 contest.

Three weeks after the WRC’s French thriller in Alsace, the RallyRACC-Catalunya-Costa Daurada-Rally de Espana is likely to settle both the 2013 Manufacturers’ and WRC-2 titles. The mixed-surface event will begin with two days on asphalt and conclude with gravel action on Sunday.

Not only did the 2013 Rallye de France-Alsace see Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia (VW/Michelin) claim the first world title of their career*, but it also brought them their seventh win of the season. Dani Sordo (Citroën) and Jari-Matti Latvala (VW) were second, while Sébastien Loeb bowed out of the sport with a score of nine world crowns and 78 victories to his name. Thanks for everything, Seb!

In addition to (probably) settling the 2013 Drivers’ and Co-Drivers’ title chases, round 11 of the FIA World Rally Championship will be the swansong appearance of nine-time champions Sébastien Loeb and Daniel Elena. It will also be the last clash between Loeb and new star Sébastien Ogier.

Although Sébastien Ogier and Julien Ingrassia (VW/Michelin) won this weekend’s Coates Hire Rally Australia, they failed to wrap up the 2013 world title when Thierry Neuville (Ford/Michelin) rescued second place and pocketed two bonus points on the Power Stage!

This year sees Rally Australia celebrate its 20th edition as a qualifying round of the FIA World Rally Championship. Since the first of those in 1989, the event has moved from the continent’s west coast to the east, from Perth to Coffs Harbour. Round 10 of the 2013 WRC has attracted an entry of 29 cars.

Citroën/Michelin’s Dani Sordo came out on top after a tense finale in Germany to claim the first world class victory of his career. The Spaniard kept his nerve to beat Belgium’s Thierry Neuville (2nd, Ford/Michelin) who delivered another mature performance to go clear second in the Drivers’ standings. Mikko Hirvonen was a distant third (+2m36s) but pocketed valuable Manufacturers’ points for Citroën. The French make also won the WRC-2 and WRC-3 battles, with Kubica and Chardonnet.

The ADAC Rallye Deutschland counts towards all of rallying’s 2013 FIA world championships, namely the WRC, WRC-2, WRC-3 and Junior WRC. It is also a round of the Citroën R1 Trophy and the ADAC Opel Rallye Cup, not to mention the parallel national and historic rallies that have also been organised!